Choice of hospital for revision total hip replacement

The Current Epidemiology of Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty in the United States From 2016 to 2022

BACKGROUND

The number of revision total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) is projected to reach 268,200 cases annually by 2030 in the United States. The growing demand for revision TKA can be attributed to the successes of primary TKAs combined with an aging population, patient desires to remain active, as well as expanded indications for younger patients. Given the evolving nature of revision TKAs, an epidemiological analysis of: (1) etiologies; (2) demographics, including age and region; as well as (3) lengths of stay (LOS) offers a way to minimize the gap between appropriate understanding and effective intervention.

METHODS

From 2016 to 2022, a national, all-payer database was queried. Incidences and indications were analyzed for a total of 135,983 patients who had revision TKA procedures.

RESULTS

The most common etiologies for revision TKA procedures were infection (19.3%) and aseptic loosening (12.8%), followed by mechanical complications (7.9%). The largest age group was 65 to 74 years (34.9%) followed by 55 to 64 years (32.2%), then age >75 years (20.5%). The South had the largest total procedure cohort (39.8%), followed by the Midwest (28.6%), then the Northeast (18.6%), and the West (13.0%). The mean length of stay was 3.86 days (range, 1.0 to 15.0).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study details the current status of revision TKA through 2022. While infection and aseptic loosening remain leading causes, we found a low aseptic loosening rate of 12.8%.

Periprosthetic joint infection after primary TKA in the medicare population: How frequently are patients revised at a different hospital?

BACKGROUND

Periprosthetic infection (PJI) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) places a significant burden on hospitals. We sought to describe the proportion of patients undergoing revision for PJI at a different hospital within one year of primary TKA and whether patient characteristics or hospital volume were associated with this change.

METHODS

Medicare data from 2005 to 2014 was retrospectively reviewed using PearlDiver. All patients over 64 years undergoing revision for PJI within one year of primary TKA were stratified by the revision occurring within 90 days. Hospitals were grouped by annual TKA volume as Low (<50), Medium (51-100), High (101-200), and Very High (>200). Associations of patient characteristics and hospital volume with revision at a different hospital were assessed using Chi-squared tests and Somers' D.

RESULTS

Of 8,337 patients undergoing revision within 90 days of TKA, 1,370 (16%) were revised at a different hospital. Changing hospitals was associated with having primary TKA at a lower volume hospital (24% for low, 15% medium, 12% high, and 12% very high; P < 0.001). Of 7,608 patients undergoing revision between 91 and 365 days, 1,110 (15%) were revised at a different hospital. Changing hospitals was associated with having primary TKA at a lower volume hospital (26% for low, 14% medium, 10% high, and 9% very high; P < 0.001). Changing hospitals was not associated with sex or age.

CONCLUSION

Patients frequently undergo revision for PJI at a different hospital, even within 90 days of TKA. Further research is needed to understand these implications of this care pathway shift.

Inflation-Adjusted Medicare Reimbursement for Revision Hip Arthroplasty: Study Showing Significant Decrease from 2002 to 2019

BACKGROUND

Investigations into reimbursement trends for primary and revision arthroplasty procedures have demonstrated a steady decline over the past several years. Revision total hip arthroplasty (rTHA) due to infection (rTHA-I) has been associated with higher resource utilization and complexity, but long-term inflation-adjusted data have yet to be compared between rTHA-I and rTHA due to aseptic complications (rTHA-A). The present study was performed to analyze temporal reimbursement trends regarding rTHA-I procedures compared with those for rTHA-A procedures.

METHODS

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool was used to extract Medicare reimbursements associated with 1-stage and 2-stage rTHA-I as well as 1-stage rTHA-A procedures from 2002 to 2019. Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for rTHA were grouped according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons coding reference guide. Monetary values were adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; reported as 2019 U.S. dollars) and used to calculate the cumulative and average annual percent changes in reimbursement.

RESULTS

Following inflation adjustment, the physician fee reimbursement for rTHA-A decreased by a mean [and standard deviation] of 27.26% ± 3.57% (from $2,209.11 in 2002 to $1,603.20 in 2019) for femoral component revision, 27.41% ± 3.57% (from $2,130.55 to $1,542.91) for acetabular component revision, and 27.50% ± 2.56% (from $2,775.53 to $2,007.61) for both-component revision. Similarly, for a 2-stage rTHA-I, the mean reimbursement declined by 18.74% ± 3.87% (from $2,063.36 in 2002 to $1,673.36 in 2019) and 24.45% ± 3.69% (from $2,328.79 to $1,755.45) for the explantation and reimplantation stages, respectively. The total decline in physician fee reimbursement for rTHA-I ($1,020.64 ± $233.72) was significantly greater than that for rTHA-A ($580.72 ± $107.22; p < 0.00001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated a consistent devaluation of both rTHA-I and rTHA-A procedures from 2002 to 2019, with a larger deficit seen for rTHA-I. A continuation of this trend could create substantial disincentives for physicians to perform such procedures and limit access to care at the population level.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Economic and Decision Analysis Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Why Do Revision Total Knee Arthroplasties Fail? A Single-Center Review of 1632 Revision Total Knees Comparing Historic and Modern Cohorts

BACKGROUND

Utilization of revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been increasing, and reasons for failure are less understood than those of primary TKA. The purpose of this study is to identify the rates and mechanisms of failure of revision TKA, and compare those between a historic (1986-2005) and modern (2006-2015) cohort.

METHODS

All revision TKAs performed at a single institution between 1986 and 2015 were reviewed, with minimum 2-year follow-up. Failure was defined as a second revision surgery in which any component was exchanged. Diagnosis at the time of index and any re-revision procedure was determined.

RESULTS

In total, 1632 revision TKAs in 1560 patients were reviewed. The average age was 65.1 and the average follow-up was 61.4 months. Overall failure rate was 22.8%, with no significant differences between the historic and modern cohort (25.1% vs 22.0%, P = .19). The leading cause for failure was infection in 38.5% of failures. The next most common causes for failure were aseptic loosening (20.9%) and instability (14.2%). Failure rate among revision TKAs for infection was 33%, with 67.2% failing due to repeat infection. Multivariate analysis found that septic index revision (odds ratio [OR] 1.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.47-2.48), male gender (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.11-1.78), and age less than 65 (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.23-1.97) were independent risk factors for failure.

CONCLUSION

There remains a high rate of failure in revision TKA, with infection being the most common reason for failure. Rates and primary reasons for failure have not changed significantly in the past decade.

The Application of Medicare Data for Musculoskeletal Research in the United States: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION

Musculoskeletal conditions disproportionately affect the lives of aging adults. We aimed to examine the literature using Medicare claims data in the United States for musculoskeletal surgical procedures.

METHODS

Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines, we searched the PubMed and Medline databases for peer-reviewed articles published between 1990 and 2015. We included the studies that (1) reported primary Medicare claims data use, (2) involved musculoskeletal surgery, and (3) were original peer-reviewed studies. We abstracted the types of surgical procedure and aims, and evaluated outcomes, and strengths and weaknesses of each included article. We assessed the quality of included articles with Newcastle Ottawa Assessment Scale.

RESULTS

The literature search returned 3,233 articles, of which 119 met our inclusion criteria. These studies focused on different outcomes: epidemiology and treatment variation (26), cost of care (15), hospital-level analyses (30), health outcomes (31), the validity and accuracy of Medicare claims data (4), disparities in health care (10), and policy evaluation (3).

DISCUSSION

Medicare claims data provide a unique way for researchers to study a nationally representative patient population longitudinally. A significant limitation of using claims data has been a lack of granularity on defining severity of a condition.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic level III.

What Is the Association Between Hospital Volume and Complications After Revision Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Large-database Study

BACKGROUND

Studies of primary total joint arthroplasty (TJA) show a correlation between hospital volume and outcomes; however, the relationship of volume to outcomes in revision TJA is not well studied.

QUESTIONS/PURPOSES

We therefore asked: (1) Are 90-day readmissions more likely at low-volume hospitals relative to high-volume hospitals after revision THA and TKA? (2) Are in-hospital and 90-day complications more likely at low-volume hospitals relative to high-volume hospitals after revision THA and TKA? (3) Are 30-day mortality rates higher at low-volume hospitals relative to high-volume hospitals after revision THA and TKA?

METHODS

Using 29,948 inpatient stays undergoing revision TJA from 2008 to 2014 in the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) database for New York State, we examined the relationship of hospital revision volume by quartile and outcomes. The top 5 percentile of hospitals was included as a separate cohort. Advantages of the SPARCS database include comprehensive catchment of all cases regardless of payer, and the ability to track each patient across hospital admissions at different institutions within the state. The outcomes of interest included 90-day all-cause readmission rates and 30- and 90-day reoperation rates, postoperative complication rates, and 30-day mortality rates. The initial cohort that met the MS-DRG and ICD-9 criteria consisted of 30,354 inpatient stays for revision hip or knee replacements. Exclusions included patients with a missing patient identifier (n = 221), missing admission or discharge dates (n = 5), and stays from hospitals that were closed during the study period (n = 180). Our final analytic cohort comprised 29,948 inpatient stays for revision hip and knee replacements from 25,977 patients who had nonmissing data points for the variables of interest. Outcomes were adjusted for underlying hospital, surgeon, and patient confounding variables. The analytic cohort included observations from 25,977 patients, 138 hospitals, 929 surgeons, 14,130 revision THAs, 11,847 revision TKAs, 15,341 female patients (59% of cohort).

RESULTS

Patients had lower all-cause 90-day readmission rates in the highest 5th percentile by volume hospitals relative to all other lower hospital volume categories. Reoperation rates within the first 90 days, however, were not different among volume categories. All-cause 90-day readmissions were higher in the quartile 4 hospitals excluding the top 5th percentile (17%) versus the top 5th percentile by volume hospitals (12%) (odds ratio [OR]: 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-1.5; p = 0.030). All-cause 90-day readmissions were higher in the quartile 3 hospitals (18%) relative to the top 5 percentile by volume hospitals (12%) (OR: 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2-1.9; p < 0.001). All-cause 90-day readmissions were higher in quartile 2 hospitals (18%) relative to the top 5 percentile by volume hospitals (12%) (OR: 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1-1.8; p = 0.010). All-cause 90-day readmissions were higher in quartile 1 hospitals (21%) versus the top 5 percentile by volume hospitals (12%) (OR: 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1-2.3; p = 0.010). Postoperative complication rates were higher among only the quartile 1 hospitals compared with institutions in each higher-volume category after revision TJA. The odds of 90-day complications compared with quartile 1 hospitals were 0.49 (95% CI, 0.33-0.72; p = 0.010) for quartile 2, 0.60 (95% CI, 0.40-0.88; p = 0.010) for quartile 3, 0.43 (95% CI, 0.28-0.64; p = 0.010) for quartile 4 excluding top 5 percentile, and 0.36 (95% CI, 0.22-0.59; p = 0.010) for the top 5 percentile of hospitals. There does not appear to be an association between 30-day mortality rates and hospital volume in revision TJA. The odds of 30-day mortality compared with quartile 1 hospitals were 0.54 (95% CI, 0.20-1.46; p = 0.220) for quartile 2, 0.75 (95% CI, 0.30-1.91; p = 0.550) for quartile 3, 0.57 (95% CI, 0.22-1.49; p = 0.250) for quartile 4 excluding top 5 percentile, and 0.61 (95% CI, 0.20-1.81; p = 0.370) for the top 5 percentile of hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that regionalizing revision TJA services, or concentrating surgical procedures in higher-volume hospitals, may reduce early complications rates and 90-day readmission rates. Disadvantages of regionalization include reduced access to care, increased patient travel distances, and possible capacity issues at receiving centers. Further studies are needed to evaluate the benefits and negative consequences of regionalizing revision TJA services to higher-volume revision TJA institutions.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III, therapeutic study.

Conversion vs Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty: Increased Cost of Care and Perioperative Complications

BACKGROUND

With the increasing incidence of hip fractures and hip preservation surgeries, there has been a concomitant rise in the number of conversion total hip arthroplasties (THAs) performed. Prior studies have shown higher complication rates in conversion THA. However, there is a paucity of data showing differences in cost between these 2 procedures. Currently, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services bundles primary and conversion THA in the same Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Group for hospital reimbursement. More evidence is needed to support the reclassification of conversion THA.

METHODS

The cohort provided by the institutional database included 163 conversion THAs between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2015. Intraoperative complications, estimated blood loss, operative time, postoperative complications, and perioperative cost data were analyzed for 163 primary THA patients matched to the conversion THA cohort.

RESULTS

Compared with primary THA, conversion THA had significantly (P < .05) greater cost for direct labor, other direct costs, intermediate nursing services, other diagnostic/therapy, surgery services, physical/occupational/speech therapy, radiology, laboratories, blood, medical/surgical supply, and total direct costs. In addition, the conversion THA group had significantly greater operative times, estimated blood loss, length of stay, intraoperative complications, and postoperative complications.

CONCLUSION

Conversion THA, as compared with primary THA, is associated with greater costs (approximately 19% greater), increased surgical times, and perioperative complications. To prevent these additional expenses from creating patient selection bias and a barrier to care, the conversion THA Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Group should be reclassified, or modifiers created.

Is changing hospitals for revision total joint arthroplasty associated with more complications?

BACKGROUND

Many patients change hospitals for revision total joint arthroplasty (TJA). The implications of changing hospitals must be better understood to inform appropriate utilization strategies.

QUESTIONS/PURPOSES

(1) How frequently do patients change hospitals for revision TJA? (2) Which patient, community, and hospital characteristics are associated with changing hospitals? (3) Is there an increased complication risk after changing hospitals?

METHODS

We identified 17,018 patients who underwent primary TJA and subsequent same-joint revision in New York or California (1997-2005) from statewide databases. Medicare was the most common payer (56%) followed by private insurance (31%). We identified patients who changed hospitals for revision TJA and those who experienced in-hospital complications. Patient, community, and hospital characteristics were analyzed to determine predictors for changing hospitals for revision TJA and the effect of changing hospitals on subsequent complications.

RESULTS

Thirty percent of patients changed hospitals for revision. Older patients were less likely to change hospitals (odds ratio [OR], 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73-0.96); no other patient characteristics were associated with changing hospitals. Patients who had index TJA at the highest-volume hospitals were less likely to change hospitals (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.48-0.57). Overall, changing hospitals was associated with higher complication risk (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.03-1.39). Changing to a lower-volume hospital (6% of patients undergoing revision TJA) was associated with a higher risk of complications (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.05-1.74). A post hoc number needed-to-treat analysis indicates that 234 patients would need to be moved from a lower volume hospital to a higher volume hospital to avoid one overall complication event after revision TJA.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the complication risk was higher if changing hospitals, this finding was sensitive to the type of change. Our findings build on the existing evidence of a volume-outcomes benefit for revision TJA by examining the effect of volume in view of potential patient migration.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III, therapeutic study. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Volume associations in total hip arthroplasty: a nationwide Taiwan population-based study

This cohort study retrospectively analyzed 78,364 THAs performed from 1998 to 2009. The mean hospital charge for all THAs performed during the study period was $4,131.9 dollars. The average hospital charges for high-volume hospitals and surgeons were 6% and 7% lower, respectively, than those for low-volume hospitals and surgeons. Analysis by propensity score matching showed that hospital charges significantly differed between THA procedures performed by high- and low-volume hospitals ($3,285.8 dollars versus $4,816.2 dollars, respectively) and between THA procedures performed by high- and low-volume surgeons, ($3,438.5 dollars versus $4,404.7 dollars, respectively) (P < 0.001). The data indicate that analysis and emulation of the treatment strategies used by high-volume hospitals and by high-volume surgeons may reduce overall hospital charges.

Impact of hospital volume on postoperative complications and in-hospital mortality after musculoskeletal tumor surgery: analysis of a national administrative database

BACKGROUND

We are aware of only one report describing the relationship between operative volume and outcomes in musculoskeletal tumor surgery, although numerous studies have described such relationships in other surgical procedures. The aim of the present study was to use a nationally representative inpatient database to evaluate the impact of hospital volume on the rates of postoperative complications and in-hospital mortality after musculoskeletal tumor surgery.

METHODS

We used the Japanese Diagnostic Procedure Combination administrative database to retrospectively identify 4803 patients who had undergone musculoskeletal tumor surgery during 2007 to 2010. Patients were then divided into tertiles of approximately equal size on the basis of the annual hospital volume (number of patients undergoing musculoskeletal tumor surgery): low, twelve or fewer cases/year; medium, thirteen to thirty-one cases/year; and high, thirty-two or more cases/year. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the relationships between various factors and the rates of postoperative complications and in-hospital mortality adjusted for all patient demographic characteristics.

RESULTS

The overall postoperative complication rate was 7.2% (348 of 4803), and the in-hospital mortality rate was 2.4% (116 of 4803). Postoperative complications included surgical site infections in 132 patients (2.7%), cardiac events in sixty-four (1.3%), respiratory complications in fifty-one (1.1%), sepsis in thirty-one (0.6%), pulmonary emboli in sixteen (0.3%), acute renal failure in eleven (0.2%), and cerebrovascular events in seven (0.1%). The postoperative complication rate was related to the duration of anesthesia (odds ratio [OR] for a duration of more than 240 compared with less than 120 minutes, 2.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.68 to 3.53; p < 0.001) and to hospital volume (OR for high compared with low volume, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.55 to 0.96; p = 0.027). The mortality rate was related to the diagnosis (OR for a metastatic compared with a primary bone tumor, 3.67; 95% CI, 1.66 to 8.09; p = 0.001), type of surgery (OR for amputation compared with soft-tissue tumor resection without prosthetic reconstruction, 3.81; 95% CI, 1.42 to 10.20; p = 0.008), and hospital volume (OR for high compared with low volume, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.50; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

We identified an independent effect of hospital volume on outcomes after adjusting for patient demographic characteristics. We recommend regionalization of musculoskeletal tumor surgery to high-volume hospitals in an attempt to improve patient outcomes.